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I saw 4 Venture Business Class cars parked at the Chicago Union Station mail platform a couple of weeks ago.

It is important to remember that Amtrak routes fall into 3 categories. They have chosen to focus on the loss on long distance because that's the part they have to pay for. In normal times NEC breaks even on an operating basis (i.e. not including capital costs due to the extremely high fares...

An interesting tidbit about ATL water table. Apparently, there is an engineering solution.

Eventually, the Charlotte-Atlanta high-speed rail line, which has an approved Tier 1 EIS, will be built. It should have stops in tunnels under the terminals at both CLT and ATL airports.

Does anyone know what the clearance is in the First Street tunnel?

It would be really good to electrify the First Street tunnel, just south of Washington Union Station, to resolve the smoke problem.

The FRA SE and Midwest Regional Plans are quite interesting. They propose Atlanta being a stop on a Florida to Chicago high-speed which would attract enough riders for hourly service. Atlanta should have both an Airport and a downtown station, as well as one in Cobb County, all on dedicated...

I think that this is a great idea. It would not require a lot of new right-of-way. The basis would be a pretty direct route between Hartford and Worcester using the alignment of a short line from Hartford and Manchester, I-84 to Sturbridge, MA, the Mass Pike to Auburn, and CSX to Worcester Union...

I have recently made my first two Amtrak reservations in about 6 months. I was totally unsuccessful using the website. In both cases I had to call. Those worked fine. One required an hour wait. Seems to be some kind of glitch on the website.

An important thing to keep in mind is that bi-mode trains, able to operate with or without wires, are now becoming regular production items. Note the recent Amtrak order for a large number of regional trains.

I had forgotten that MN and LIRR had ordered Chargers adapted for third rail. I wonder why Amtrak didn't order some more of those for Empire Service. Maybe they and/or Siemens were looking for an excuse to test battery power. I haven't seen a rendering of a Siemens battery car yet.

It's very interesting that it appears that the way that the trainsets are being made "dual mode" is to put the "elictric stuff" (AC transformer, pantograph, and other switchgear) in the end of the business class car next to the diesel which, thus, could be a pretty plain vanilla Charger...

A few points to note: - Flixbus bought Greyhound a few months ago, for a bargain price. They have chosen to keep the brands separate. - While there's no Ambus, many states are subsidizing intercity bus routes using Federal FTA-funding, including some of Greyhound's. Most try to stay in the...

The distance is not much different; there might not be a noticeable time penalty and it could add a lot of riders.

Also, people should be aware that FRA completed a SW Regional Rail Plan a few years ago which included the concept of a conventional (not HS) Denver-Pueblo-Santa Fe-Albuquerque-Flagstaff-Williams Jct. (Grand Canyon)-Phoenix route with multiple daily frequencies. SW Study Summary Report | FRA

Has anyone ever looked into re-routing the SW Chief via Santa Fe? Presumably, this would involve upgrading the short line to/from Lamy. A turning loop might also be required to allow the train to go into Santa Fe itself.

I don't why everyone assumes that commuter rail in the coastal corridor will use equipment with doors requiring low level platforms. Commuter service would benefit from high level platforms, as in NEC. It would also save building separate platforms. Does Brightline not want to share their stations?

Yes, this is why there are no routes longer than 500 miles in the ConnectUS plan. A major advantage of true high speed rail is that, as long as they are implemented on major routes, they typically operate at a profit, avoiding the need for either the states or Feds from having to paying...

Presumably, Virginia would not have agreed to this unless they were sure that the FRA would authorize the use of PTC for the 90 mph operation on the RF&P that they plan. I am still hoping that after FRA approves PTC for 110 with grade crossings on Brightline this can be applied to Chicago-St Louis.

I've been reading the exchange in this thread and feel that there are a few important points that the discussion has missed: Significant investment in HSR is only just justified in corridors with significant demand: Outside the NEC studies have identified these as 4 lines radiating out of...